It was ugly folks. Real ugly. It was so ugly it burned my eyes. I’m talking about the weather, of course. Dry summer heat, high winds and a number of nearby wild fires fouled the air with dust and smoke in Pullman on Thursday night. Meanwhile the Cougars took to the Martin Stadium turf for a scrimmage complete with scoreboard, referees and… crowd noise. The high winds made things interesting and Amieable was by my side with camera in hand. We’ll have a gallery of photos posted later, but great work and thanks to Amieable, who even got to DON THE SIDELINE PHOTO VEST:
Read on for more…
But first: NOTE – Sorry to interrupt Longball’s post, but THIS INFORMATION IS ABOUT OUR YAHOO PICK’EM CONTEST. WE HAD TO CREATE A SECOND GROUP! Our first group filled up, as Yahoo places a limit at 50 members. So, this is for the second group. Please know that even though you will be in the second group, you will still be included in the overall standings with group #1. It may not look like it from the Yahoo website, but we will keep a tally and make sure both groups are counted equally.
Here is the second group information:
1) Go here, to the Yahoo Sports Fantasy College Football Pick ’em.
2) Click Join a Group.
3) Enter the following information:
Group: 16079
Password: wazzufbblog
If you already joined group #1 as one of the first 50 to sign up, here’s the information:
Group: 14767
Password: gocougs
NOW, please, read on for more…..
It wasn’t the most crisp performance and included failures to field kicks, fumbles, drops, bobbles, the works. Crowd noise was blasted over the Martin Stadium speakers and the players responded by waving their arms in the air as if the urge the crowd on. There were some sputters and false starts, but also some sustained drives by the number 1 offense, and some big plays from young players trying to make a name for themselves as the season approaches.
Things got underway with the number 1 defense holding the number 2 offense to a punt. Freshman running back Ricky Galvin was back to receive, but the ball bounced off of him and was finally recovered by the return team.
Jeff Tuel took over with the number 1 offense against the number 2 defense and marched the team down the field finding 3 different receivers on the drive including, Jared Karstetter, Daniel Blackledge and freshman Marqess Wilson who has been a fixture on the 1st team. Once inside the 20 yard line the number 2 defense stiffened and on 3rd down brought the blitz. The number one offense was ready and picked up the blitz giving Tuel time to fire over the middle to a wide open Jeffery Solomon. In the high winds, the pass sailed high and out of Solomon’s reach who, while stretched out, took a big shot from the Cougar secondary and had to shake off a few cobwebs. On 4th down, Nico Grasu came in and easily converted the 32 yard field goal for the day’s first score.
After the kickoff, Marshall Lobbestael returned with the number 2 offense, but quickly surrendered a fumble to the number one offense as outside linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis stripped the ball from running back Carl Winston and freshman cornerback Demante Horton was there to fall on it.
With the ball back Jeff Tuel wasted little time leading the number 1 offense on another scoring drive, this time using his own feet to scramble for a first down after getting hot pursuit in the backfield from freshman defensive end Zach Brevick. The drive was capped by a TD pass from Tuel to first year wide-out Isiah Barton who beat freshman safety Deonne Bucannon (now wearing number 10) to the goal line.
After Nico Grasu booted the kickoff 5 yards deep into the end-zone, Lobbestael took over again with the number 2 offense and this time they decided to make a little noise of their own. Redshirt freshman running back Leon Brooks took a swing pass up the right sideline for 34 yards, finally getting the the number 2 offense past the 50. The number one defense stiffened their resolve and had the offense facing a 3rd and 12 when Lobbestael was able to find walk-on freshman receiver Bennett Bontemps for 13 yards and a first down. But that was all the territory the number 1 defense would yield. With the quarter expiring the teams switched sides of the field and Nico Grasu booted a 55 yard field goal with the strong winds at his back.
The next series began with freshman running back Ricky Galvin in the backfield and he impressed taking a handoff right up the middle for 10 yards and a first down. The offense seemed to be clicking again as James Montgomery took a swing pass for another 12 yards. Bit then the wheels came off a bit as Jefferey Solomon dropped a Jeff Tuel pass over the middle. Then Deone Buccanon made up for giving up the earlier touch down by picking off a Jeff Tuel pass that sailed a bit in the stiff headwinds.
Late scrimmage highlights included a 50 yard field goal by freshman Andrew Furney and a Leon Brooks fumble of a punt that was recovered by freshman walk-on Jack Wilson for a touchdown (no, not that awful M’s shortstop).
The scrimmage closed with a kicking exhibition put on by incumbent starter Nico Grasu and up and coming challenger, freshman Andrew Furney.
Both had hit from 50 yards plus during the scrimmage and as the team gathered around to cheer them on, they both connected from 45 yards out. Upping the ante, coach Wulff moved them back to 51 yards out and Furney was good again, while Grasu missed the mark. But it wasn’t over yet. From 58 yards out Furney, after a bad snap and questionable hold, misfired badly while the veteran Grasu blasted his kick through the uprights taking advantage of the strong winds at his back.
Other notable plays included a circus play from freshman receiver Marques Wilson who caught a Jeff Tuel pass over the middle, bobbled it, caught it again and held on as the defense converged to smother him. Also, Nico Grasu was able to consistently put his kickoffs into the end zone.
With just 8 days left until kickoff in Stillwater, the Cougars are likely to begin focusing specifically on Oklahoma State. I’ll be conducting my own Fall ritual, heading out to the woods with my boys to make fires, eat meat, drink beer and reminisce about great Coug teams of the past, but when I get back you better all be ready cause its GAME WEEK! Until then…
Go Cougs!
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